Geoff Thomas: Two fishing firsts for Dan

Peter "The Penguin" Blackwell and Dan Carter with some of the catch. Photo / Geoff Thomas

The helicopter banked and swooped over the brown building below. The rustic-looking lodge is perched on a hill with wide views over the bush to the sea, which sparkles out in the bay off Tryphena, on Great Barrier Island. It is called Earthsong Lodge and it was created with love for the wilderness it inhabits. The building blends into the surrounding bush in lovely harmony and guests feel the warm welcome. As the proprietor and chef Trevor Rendle says, "Earthsong Lodge has been created from the essence of nature in a unique island paradise where earth, sea and sky embrace you."

After a day of fishing around the Barrier coast the prospect of a scrub up, fresh clothes and a cold drink while watching the sun disappear into the sea was mighty appealing. Dan Carter agreed and so did Peter Blackwell, our host on his launch Azraq. His boat is a well-known sight around the island, and having grown up there and now returned in retirement, he knows where to find a fish. The plan was to get DC, as Dan is called by just about everybody, his first kingfish and his first good snapper. Shouldn't be too hard at the Barrier, but fish are strange creatures. They don't travel to the beat of the same drum as fishermen, and, just when you think you have them sussed, they change the rules.

And while many a frustrated angler is tempted to endow fish with anthropomorphic traits like cunning they are, in fact, simply motivated. They eat and breed and try and survive in a hostile environment where any weakness is pounced upon, but they move to the pulse of nature, responding to subtle changes in currents and barometric pressure.

It is the wind, the weather, the moon and tides and changes in temperature which influence fish. Predicting just how the fishing is likely to be is a fickle art, which is why we love it so much when we are successful in our quest for the first or biggest of a species.

DC's chances were looking pretty good. It was midsummer and The Penguin, which is how Peter is referred to on the Barrier, has more good fishing spots around the huge island than DC has footy boots. Which turned out to be a good thing, for the first couple of spots proved barren - everybody knew about them except the fish.

"We'll try a little deeper," declared The Penguin. So as the launch drifted in 40 metres of water out off Katherine Bay, the first snapper started appearing as silvery shadows in the blue depths as lines were pulled in. DC was smiling as his rod bent and he soon had one good-sized snapper, then another, and another. That box was well and truly ticked.

"Now for a kingie," said Penguin.

The live bait tank was well stocked with yellowtails, technically known as jack mackerel, one of those little fish which bring joy to youngsters kneeling on a wharf and feeling the first tug on their new rod. They are common, and everything loves to eat them. Snapper like them when sliced into strips, John Dory love them as they swim around while anchored to a line, and to kingfish, well, they are "kingfish candy", as Leigh charter skipper Aaron Covavich likes to call the slippery little dudes. Yellowtails live in a symbiotic relationship with a horrible looking creature called a sea louse. These lice actually live inside the host's mouth, anchored in the throat, sharing whatever dinner passes by. When the yellowtail dies these parasites desert their erstwhile host and crawl out of the open mouth (they always die with mouth wide open, which is handy for the lice), much to the disgust of many a fisherman who finds them in his fish box at the end of the day. And they get pretty big, up to 2.5cm long. Not a nice thought in reverse anthropomorphic terms.

DC dropped the first kingfish candy where a strong current swirled around a sunken rock, and as the launch drifted by past the edge of the reef his line took off. The short rod bent over and he was in business. The king was a respectable one, about 12 kilos, and invoked another broad smile. Second box ticked.

The dinner at Earthsong Lodge lived up to expectations. We had heard big things about the five-star accommodation and exquisite dining. They were spot on. More smiles of appreciation; for tucked away among the bush on a hilltop on Great Barrier you can feel right at home and be utterly spoiled.

You can find more information at www.earthsonglodge.co.nz